BILL NUMBER: ACR 168	CHAPTERED  07/12/00

	RESOLUTION CHAPTER   99
	FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE   JULY 12, 2000
	ADOPTED IN SENATE   JULY 6, 2000
	ADOPTED IN ASSEMBLY   JUNE 29, 2000

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Ashburn

                        JUNE 12, 2000

   Assembly Concurrent Resolution No. 168--Relative to Valley Fever
Awareness Month.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   ACR 168, Ashburn.  Valley Fever Awareness Month.
   This measure would proclaim August 2000 as Valley Fever Awareness
Month.




   WHEREAS, Valley fever (coccidioidomycosis), a progressive,
multisymptom, respiratory disorder, is a debilitating disease; and
   WHEREAS, It is caused by the inhalation of tiny airborne fungi
that live in soil, but are released into the air by soil disturbance
or wind; and
   WHEREAS, Valley fever attacks the respiratory system causing
infection which can lead to symptoms that resemble a cold, influenza,
or pneumonia-like symptoms; and
   WHEREAS, Left untreated or mistreated, infection can spread from
the lungs into the bloodstream causing inflammation to the skin,
permanent damage to lung and bone tissue, and swelling of the
membrane surrounding the brain leading to meningitis, which can be
devastating and even fatal; and
   WHEREAS, Once serious symptoms of valley fever appear, including
pneumonia and labored breathing, treatment must be prompt with
antifungal drugs that are disagreeable and often toxic, especially
for patients who have it injected beneath the base of their skull for
meningitis, causing side effects such as nausea, fever, and kidney
damage; and
   WHEREAS, Within California alone, valley fever is found in
portions of the Sacramento Valley, all of the San Joaquin Valley,
desert regions, and portions of southern California; and
   WHEREAS, Valley fever affects the young, the elderly, and those
with lowered immune systems, which number in the tens of thousands;
and
   WHEREAS, Valley fever has been a disease studied for the past 100
years, but still remains impossible to control and difficult to
treat; and
   WHEREAS, There is no known cure to date for valley fever; however,
researchers are closer than they ever have been in finding a much
needed vaccine to this devastating disease; and
   WHEREAS, The research effort to find a vaccine and the funding
partnership, including funding from the State of California, was
approved by the Legislature and signed by Governor Wilson in 1997;
now, therefore, be it
   Resolved by the Assembly of the State of California, the Senate
thereof concurring, That the Legislature does hereby proclaim August
2000 as Valley Fever Awareness Month.
